Japan Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant blog
Tracking Fukushima news from day 1 : | Now one of the world's largest Public Available Repositories of the Chronology of the Daiichi Nuclear ongoing Disaster.
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Monday, 31 March 2014

[snip]

As we reported last night, Japan's economy may once again be relapsing into a slowing phase, perversely well in advance of the dreaded sales-tax hike which many expect will catalyze Japan's collapse into another recession as happened the last time Japan had a tax hike, but that doesn't mean its population should be prevented from enjoying the heavily energized local atmosphere buzzing with the hope and promise of imminent paper-based "wealth effects" for those long the daily penNikkeistock rollercoaster.... and just as buzzing with copious gamma rays of course. Which is why for the first time in over three years, since Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, residents of a small district 20 km from the wrecked plant are about to be allowed to return home. Because if the honest Japanese government says it is safe, then so it must be.

But how is this possible?

Just recall, as we reported in December citing SCMP, that the incidence of Thyroid cancers had surged among Fukushima youths. It took the government a few days of contemplation before spinning this deplorable revelation as one which blamed not the coverup surrounding the Fukushima fallout, but - get this - the fact that children were getting sick because they were not going out enough!

Mindboggling as it may be, this is precisely the kind of ridiculous propaganda one would expect from a flailing authoritarian regime, with a crashing economy, and a demographic collapse with no credible options left except to goose the manipulated market higher... The kind of propaganda that is now being used to give the "all clear" to move back to Fukushima!

Sunday, 30 March 2014

The planned dumping in the sea of groundwater at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex will start in May or later, the industry minister said Sunday.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant crippled by the March 2011 quake and tsunamis, has not said when a system to move groundwater to the nearby sea will start operating.

Under the plan, the groundwater, several hundred tons of which is flowing into the plant's premises a day, is to be pumped up before it gets mixed with highly radioactive water in the basement of crippled reactor buildings.

Saturday, 29 March 2014

(NaturalNews) In order to appease the fears of the public and maintain order, leaders of government institutions often restrict valuable and alarming information from broadcast or publication. This censorship keeps the masses unaware but cooperative, as the truth is picked through and decimated. Such leaders are often timid and tend to uphold the status quo. They will typically refrain from riling people up so as not to disturb the powers of special interest that could shutter their career and livelihood.

While vital information is picked apart and wrought with censorship, people may suffer from the consequences of not knowing and not being able to take action.

When the Fukushima nuclear crisis began in March 2011, much censorship was placed on scientists and researchers who set out to measure the radioactive fallout that was silently affecting the public.

One scientist, Michio Aoyama, recorded initial findings that were too startling for the Japanese government. As a senior scientist working within the Japanese government's Meteorological Research Institute, Aoyama reported dangerous levels of radioactive cesium-137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean. His reports estimated that levels of cesium-137 could be 10,000 times higher than nuclear contamination measurements from Chernobyl, the world's worst nuclear accident.

When Aoyama reported these alarming radiation levels in an article for a publication called Nature, he was met with criticism and publication restrictions. The director general of the institute called Aoyama and asked him to remove his name from the paper. Apparently, he did not want to startle the public with Aoyama's findings. When Aoyma asked to have his name removed, the article was suddenly halted from publication.

Aoyama is not the only one placed under this kind of pressure and censorship. Various university researchers in Japan report that their respective universities will not give them funds or support for the work they conduct involving the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Professors report off the record in many cases that they are either obstructed or told to steer clear of data that might cause public "concern."

The result so far has been three years of downplaying the Fuskushima disaster, leaving people unaware of the dangers of high levels of radiation that adversely affect their health.

Politically dangerous research

Joji Otaki, a biologist from Japan's Ryukyu University, has written several papers on how Fukushima radiation triggers inherited deformities in butterflies, but said, "Getting involved in this sort of researchis dangerous politically." Otaki, says the public supports his work through crowdfunding donations.

Scientists are to check whether New Zealand muttonbirds that spend the winter off the coast of Japan have been exposed to radiation from the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

In a new pilot study, University of Auckland scientists will investigate whether radioactive cesium has entered the New Zealand ecosystem or food chain via the birds.

The wrecked plant and its trapped contents have loomed over Japan since floodwaters from the March 2011 tsunami knocked out the plant's back-up generators that were supposed to keep cooling its nuclear fuel.

The over-heating sparked meltdowns in three reactors and forced 150,000 to flee, and tens of thousands have been unable to return home to areas contaminated by radiation.

In the study, researchers will test the birds' feathers for gamma rays that indicate the presence of the radioactive isotope cesium-134.

Feathers will be collected from prime muttonbird sites in the South Island, particularly Stewart Island.

New Zealand sooty shearwaters or titi migrate annually, spending the summer mating and raising their chicks in New Zealand before over-wintering off the coast of Japan.

Zero air pollution?... *sigh.. ask the children of fukushima why they can't play outside... there are now 3 year olds that have never been outside for more than 15-20 minutes per day... tell this shit to them......
RIDICULOUS full page add promoting #NUCLEARENERGY in the WSJ today.

Email ~ "Hi Christina, I am very happy to be sending you these pics I took of the add I just told you about and it looks like it is working, each picture is slowly loadin...See More
Photo: RIDICULOUS full page add promoting #NUCLEARENERGY in the WSJ today.

Email ~ "Hi Christina, I am very happy to be sending you these pics I took of the add I just told you about and it looks like it is working, each picture is slowly loading into this email. It's a sad day when you think how many people saw this add and thought everything was ok in the nuclear world... instantly, like magic, mesmerizing the masses into thinking all is ok !!!"

www.nuclearmatters.com is a pure propaganda BS site. I signed up for their twitter though, so I can harass them endlessly, like this:

@Nuclear_Matters Nuclear matters because: ITS MAKING GENERATIONS OF SICK PEOPLE AND HAS BEEN FOR DECADES. #partyover #Fukushima

and

@Nuclear_Matters because without it, the CANCER industry would not exist. THANKS #NUCLEARENERGY !

Zero air pollution?... *sigh.. ask the
children of fukushima why they can't play outside... there are now 3
year olds that have never been outside for more than 15-20 minutes per
day... tell this shit to them......

RIDICULOUS full page add promoting #NUCLEARENERGY in the WSJ
today.

Email ~ "Hi Christina, I am very happy to be sending you
these pics I took of the add I just told you about and it
looks like it is working, each picture is slowly loadin...See
More

Thursday, 27 March 2014

The Japanese government has postponed releasing the results of its latest measurement of radiation in three municipalities of the Fukushima region. The reason is the results are higher than expected, an unnamed source said in an interview with the Mainichi newspaper.

The matter is that the three municipalities in question currently have an active evacuation order, which might be lifted soon, and the government supports the lifting. That is why the Cabinet Office team decided to withhold the data as it might discourage residents from going back.

The recent measurements were significantly higher than expected: the levels were at 2.6 to 6.6 millisieverts a day, while expectations were at 1 to 2 millisieverts. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency and National Institute of Radiological Science decided to recalculate the results basing on an assumption that people would spend shorter periods outdoors than it is usually assumed in these cases (six hours instead of eight). The new results were submitted to the Cabinet Office team, and they plan to announce them later this month.

Thursday, 20 March 2014

Tokyo Electric Power Company has halted its system for
decontaminating radioactive water at the disabled Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant.
TEPCO says it is testing operation of the ALPS water treatment
system at the plant. The system is a key part of decontamination
measures and is said to be capable of removing almost all radioactive
substances from wastewater.
But TEPCO officials say they found performance had sharply
deteriorated in one of 3 lines in the ALPS system when operation was
halted to clean filters.
An analysis on Monday of water after treatment showed amounts of
beta ray-emitting radioactive substances were reduced to only about
one-tenth the amount in the water before the treatment. The system
normally reduces radioactive contaminants to about one-millionth the
prior level.
TEPCO halted all 3 lines in the treatment system early on Tuesday
afternoon to determine the cause of the deterioration.
It plans to resume full operation of the system after April.
The ALPS system has had a series of problems, raising questions
about its stability.

And from the photo analysis of Ray Masalas

Remember
that funny looking trench/landslide on the west hill opposite R #3?
It looks like it might be a sewer for the busted ALPS? The Alps tent
is marked.

Wednesday, 19 March 2014

How can these fabulous young minds assert their views when your administration rushes the "Secrecy Preservation Act" through the Diet without debate as to WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE SECRET? This is FASCIST legislation and you know it very well, Honorable Prime Minister. In passing this bill, you have put a noose around the Japanese media and silenced the Japanese youth, who will bear the burden of radioactive contamination and radioactive waste resulting from the ongoing triplemeltdowns of 3.11.11.

You cannot have a thriving economy in a country with a nuclear wasteland, where 74 people have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. You cannot host an Olympics in Tokyo based on your lies that "All is safe and there is no danger." Do not pretend that there are enough workers at the Daiichi reactors. Each day, new workers reach their exposure limits to radioactivity. How can you expect to hire yet more workers for your Olympic Village in Tokyo, when Daiichi is nowhere near under control?

How do you think the citizens remaining in Fukushima feel about your plans to invest billions of yen into the Tokyo Olympics?

We know, Prime Minister Abe. The world knows that you have sacrificed the children in Fukushima in favor of economic gain.

The world knows that your people OPPOSE restart of Japan's nuclear reactors. And yet, you defy them?

The world knows, Abe. Your game is up.

Message from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe:

I very much want for the younger generation, who will shoulder responsibility for Japan in the years to come, to assert their views confidently within the international community as truly internationally-minded individuals.Today I met Ms. Tomitaku, the first place winner of the “High School Speech Contest on the Northern Territories,” and Mr. Savushkin, who achieved second place. I find it extremely promising that they considered the Northern Territories issue so earnestly and spoke about it in their own words.Mr. Savushkin is a Russian national living in Japan. Active exchanges among the members of our younger generations will surely form the foundation of strong bonds of friendship with other nations into the future. I gave each of the two contest winners a piece of calligraphy to commemorate their achievements.

Or rather, mainstream media outlets like TV Asahi has waited three years to tell us about what many of us suspected from the beginning.

It has been a sad, familiar sight of bags upon bags that contain contaminated soil removed from people's homes, roadsides, gardens, parks, schools, farmlands, etc. in Fukushima Prefecture and areas in Kanto Region for the past three years in the name of "decontamination".

TV Asahi apparently reported in the morning news on March 11, 2014 that these black plastic bags were made to last 3 years, and the manufacturer told Asahi that they were not meant to hold radioactive materials, according to a tweetby ‏@k_reichan:

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Workers say there is little to do at night other than watch TV, play roulette at a tiny game center, and drink. A store inside “J-Village” — Tepco’s base outside the plant — sells beer, whiskey and sake. According to several accounts, alcoholism is rampant, and one worker said he and his colleagues sometimes showed up for work hung over.

One worker who refused to give his name said he was already so vulnerable that he ended up homeless when he lost his job cleaning contaminated mud off workers’ boots. Another, hired to check for cracks at the plant’s reactors, said he arrived after losing his factory job and losing a place to live when he broke up with his girlfriend.

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party, the ruling party in Japan, are discussing the establishment of new credentials for workers who clean up radioactive debris or decommission nuclear power plants.

The discussions revolve around the establishment of three levels of national certifications which focus on three areas, decontamination, reactor maintenance, and radiation monitoring.

Officials say that it is important to raise the skill of nuclear industry employees as this will not only help improve overall safety but also to help reduce worker exposures at nuclear power facilities.

Despite continued opposition from local fishing groups, a controlled release of lightly contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant should be considered, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Monday.

“Common practice is to treat contaminated water as much as possible…and then release it into the environment,” Yukiya Amano, Director General of IAEA, told a news conference in Tokyo, adding that he believed the current situation of ever-growing batteries of storage tanks is “not viable.”

A large amount of groundwater keeps flowing under reactors that suffered meltdowns in the accident in March 2011, creating about 400 metric tons a day of highly contaminated water. Tokyo Electric Power Co.9501.TO +0.49%, the plant operator, processes it to remove radioactive cesium, and a new water cleaning system called ALPS, that is capable of removing all radioactive materials except relatively harmless tritium, is expected to start working fully in the next few month

New York Times, Mar. 16, 2014: As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, [Michio Aoyama] said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be 10,000 times as high as contamination after Chernobyl as Mr. Aoyama prepared to publish his findings the director general of the institute called with an unusual demand — that Mr. Aoyama remove his own name from the paper. Aoyama asked for his name to be removed, he said, and the article was not published. Off the record, university researchers in Japan say that even now, three years after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, they feel under pressure to play down the impact of the disaster. In several cases, the professors say, they have been obstructed or told to steer clear of data that might cause public “concern.” Stories of problems with Fukushima-related research are common, [Aoyama] said, including accounts of several professors’ being told not to measure radiation in the surrounding prefectures.

Joji Otaki, Ryukyu University biologist who published studies linking butterfly deformities to radioactive releases from Fukushima Daiichi: “Getting involved in this sort of research is dangerous politically It’s an exceptional situation.” Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution: “Researchers are told not to talk to the press, or they don’t feel comfortable about talking to the press without permission.”Timothy Mousseau, University of South Carolina: “[2 postdoctoral students who dropped out of a joint research paper] felt it was too provocative and controversial - worried it could hamper their future job prospects. It’s pretty clear that there is self-censorship or professors have been warned by their superiors that they must be very, very careful.”Michio Aoyama, Fukushima University scientist: “I was later told that [the MRI's director general] did not want to say that Fukushima radioactivity was worse than Chernobyl. The key phrase is ‘don’t cause panic.”’

"Off the record, university researchers in Japan say that even now, three years after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, they feel under pressure to play down the impact of the disaster. Some say they cannot get funds or university support for their work. In several cases, the professors say, they have been obstructed or told to steer clear of data that might cause public “concern.”

“Getting involved in this sort of research is dangerous politically,” said Joji Otaki, a biologist at Japan’s Ryukyu University who has written papers suggesting that radioactivity at Fukushima has triggered inherited deformities in a species of butterfly. His research is paid for through private donations, including crowdfunding, a sign, he said, that the public supports his work. “It’s an exceptional situation,” he said."

2 new radio shows starting March 28th:
I will be hosting Wide Awake news on Rense, 4th Friday of every month, plus roundtable discussions with Deborah Tavarres, Karen Quinn-Tostado and Cindy Pikoulas.

and I will be co-hosting "The Climate Hour" with Jim Lee and Packy Savannas which begins April 2014 (more info to come).

Nuked Radio will still be doing specials as well, we have a massive "sick celebrity update" with Leuren Moret which will air in the next few weeks.

My most recent interview with Alfred Weber at Exopolitics:
"Airline Anomalies Post Fukushima" air date Feb 20 2014:
The Fukushima Nuclear Accident resulted in a massive release of radionuclides into our biosphere. Releases continue from the plant via steam events and pouring of massive amounts of water on the reactors and pools which makes its way to the Pacific Ocean endlessly. 2 years ago I was contacted by a flight attendant working out of the Seattle-Tacoma airport who had concerns about various illnesses that were affecting pilots and flight crews, since Fukushima. Over the past 2 years we have collected any and all reports pertaining to this possible connection, until we had a significant amount of data to present to the public. What has become obvious is that something is causing a significant statistical increase in pilots who are having medical emergencies during flights, based on available data.
Interview link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOtxx7...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOtxx7zpyz0

The real story on the myth of the effectiveness of decontamination was reported by Dr Ernest Sternglass in his book: "Secret Fallout" published in 1972 which can be reviewed at:
http://www.ratical.org/radiation/Secr...http://www.ratical.org/radiation/SecretFallout/

NRC Website: Decommissioning -
"The process of safely closing a nuclear power plant (or other facility where nuclear materials are handled) to retire it from service after its useful life has ended. This process primarily involves decontaminating the facility to reduce residual radioactivity and then releasing the property for unrestricted or (under certain conditions) restricted use. This often includes dismantling the facility or dedicating it to other purposes. Decommissioning begins after the nuclear fuel, coolant, and radioactive waste are removed. For additional information, see Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities and Find Sites Undergoing Decommissioning."

Friday, 14 March 2014

Fukushima nuclear workers and their supporters shout slogans outside the headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) on Friday.

TOKYO —

Fukushima nuclear plant workers rallied outside the headquarters of operator Tokyo Electric Power on Friday, complaining they were forced to work for meager pay in dangerous conditions.

The group of about 100 demonstrators shouted and pumped their fists in the air as they railed against being cheated by contractors hired to find recruits to clean up the shattered site and surrounding area.

“Workers at the Fukushima plant have been forced to do unreasonable tasks with no decent safety measures,” said one man in his 30s, who declined to give his name.

He said he was laid off after several months in the job due to heavy radiation exposure.

“Workers are forced to handle contaminated water in such grim working conditions, where any human being should not be put to work,” he said.

“They tend to make easy mistakes under the pressure, but it’s not they who are at fault—it’s the conditions that force them to do terrible tasks.”

Three years since a towering wall of water plunged the Fukushima nuclear plant into darkness on March 11, 2011 and sent reactors into meltdown, plant workers have yet to even start dismantling the crippled reactors.

The decommissioning process is expected to stretch over decades.

Several thousand employees at the plant are locked in a daily—and dangerous—scramble to keep the site as safe as possible, making myriad repairs and building tanks for the vast amounts of water contaminated after being used to cool reactors.

In solidarity with concerned citizens worldwide, we tried to deliver a letter to the Japanese Consulate in Detroit on the 3rd anniversary of the ongoing disaster at the Fukushima Diiachi nuclear plant. The Consulate General of Japan in Detroit refused to allow us to deliver the letter nor would they come down and accept it. By turning their backs on concerned citizens, they turn their backs on their own people in Japan. That makes them complicit to all the lies and cover ups propagated by TEPCO, the Japanese government, the US government, and the corporate controlled media. The people of Japan deserve better. They are polite, honorable, and courageous people (over 50,000 protested yesterday in Japan). Unfortunately the Consulate General - Kazuyuki Katayama has acted disrespectful, shameful, and cowardly.

My favor is this: Yesterday the Consul General of the Detroit Japanese consulate posted a statement concerning the 3rd anniversary of the ongoing disaster at Fukushima on their facebook page below. Please proceed to that page and add a comment to his statement. They keep deleting mine. Don't create a new post, rather comment on his statement. Ask why they will not accept the letter, the truth. Feel free to use words like disrespectful, cowardly, and shameful. Also maybe mention the fact that are breaking their own Japanese law, specifically Article 16 of the Japanese Constitution. Thanks.

Here's the letter we tried to deliver:

His Excellency, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe

Greetings Your Excellency Prime Minister Abe.

On this third anniversary of the Tohoku Earthquake, I extend to you our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of life from the tsunami and earthquake of March 11, 2011. The people of Japan are in our prayers, that their sorrows may be removed for loved ones lost, and that they may know prosperity, health, and peace now and in the future always.

It has been three years since the start of the Fukushima nuclear power disaster, with no end in sight. The primary focus of your government must be on mitigating this catastrophe and preventing further disasters from the Fukushima site -- and not on restarting nuclear reactors and exporting nuclear technology, which are a counterproductive diversion of financial, managerial, and regulatory resources.

Science and common sense, unvarnished by political and military interests, makes clear that the disaster of Fukushima Daiichi should serve as a warning to the world. With that in mind, we make urgent and humble request regarding the following points of common interest to all life on the planet:

1. Draconian secrecy in government and fast-tracking bills through legislative bodies are bad omens for freedom of the Japanese press and freedom to dissent by the Japanese people. Freedom of information and robust debate (the latter cut off sharply by Japan’s parliament on December 5, 2013) are the currencies of democracy. First and foremost we call on your government to repeal the antidemocratic state secrets law opposed by the vast majority of Japanese citizens and restore the freedoms important for the possibility of a healthy democracy to flourish.

2. We call on you to change Japan’s nuclear policy and to keep all nuclear power reactors closed. We are also working for this in our own country. We here in the great lakes region and near Detroit, Michigan live near the largest GE Mark 1 designed reactor in the world, Fermi 2 and have seen it as an ominous threat to the entire region since long before the Fukushima disaster began.

3. Please expedite the stabilization of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors and the irradiated fuel pools and help facilitate the best and brightest minds of the international community in making this happen.

4. Stop the flow of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. The ocean extends far beyond Japan. It is owned by the entire planet and is essential to life on Earth.

5. Please do not export nuclear reactors to other countries.

6. Please fully compensate all victims of Fukushima and provide medical treatment and relocation assistance for people living in contaminated areas.

7. Stop the incineration of radioactive rubble and waste throughout Japan, which does not destroy radioactivity but simply disperses it into the air, incinerator ash, and other solid waste.

In conclusion, we live in an age where national boundaries are increasingly of small consequence. Nature knows no geopolitical boundaries when it comes to radioactive contamination spreading through the oceans, the air, the groundwater, and living beings which are constantly on the move. All life is connected. We are all related. Our common happiness and sustainable future concerns us all. The world desperately needs leaders now, with the courage to listen to the voices of all life, to choose to support life and repair the damage to our Mother Earth before it is too late. We call on you to exercise your leadership to achieve the goals of these seven demands for a safe and secure nuclear free future.

One of the main advisors to the Japanese government on Fukushima announced:

If you smile, the radiation will not affect you. If you do not smile, the radiation will affect you.

This theory has been proven by experiments on animals.

Are these claims true?

We Ask an Expert

To find out, Washington's Blog spoke with one of the world’s leading experts on the effects of radiation on living organisms: Dr. Timothy Mousseau.

Dr. Mousseau is former Program Director at the National Science Foundation (in Population Biology), Panelist for the National Academy of Sciences’ panels on Analysis of Cancer Risks in Populations Near Nuclear Facilities and GAO Panel on Health and Environmental Effects from Tritium Leaks at Nuclear Power Plants, and a biology professor – and former Dean of the Graduate School, and Chair of the Graduate Program in Ecology – at the University of South Carolina.

For the past 15 years, Mousseau and another leading biologist – Anders Pape Møller – have studied the effects of radiation on birds and other organisms.

Mousseau has made numerous trips to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and Fukushima – making 896 inventories at Chernobyl and 1,100 biotic inventories in Fukushima as of July 2013 – to test the effect of radiation on plants and animals.

On the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, we spoke with Dr. Mousseau about what he discovered regarding the effects of radiation on plants, animals … and people.

[Question] How did you get into this field? Is it because you are an anti-nuclear activist?

[Mousseau] No.

I’m an activist, but not an anti-nuclear scientist. I’m an activist for evidence-based science policy.

I got into this out of an interest in discovery of new forms of adaption to changing environments. I’m an evolutionary biologist by training. And – about a decade and a half ago – I met up with Anders Pape Møller, one of the world’s leading ornithologists.

We decided to go to Chernobyl and see if the females, the mothers, are doing anything to enhance their offspring’s fitness in response to this novel stressor of radioactive contaminants.

And then in 2005, when the international Atomic Energy Agency commissioned this report by a panel – the Chernobyl Forum – and the Chernobyl Forum put out their first release in 2005, followed by their main publication in 2006, we realized they didn’t cite anybody’s work that went against their dogma that contamination levels at Chernobyl were just too low to be of any profound significance for biological communities.

In fact, they have a statement in the Chernobyl Forum report where they suggest that the plants and animals are thriving because there are no people there. And – by implication – the suggestion is that the radiation isn’t a problem.

[Q] What did you actually find in the field?

[Mousseau] What we observed was that in the more contaminated parts of the Chernobyl zone, there were many fewer critters, fewer birds singing, and we noticed there were no spider webs getting in our face.

We set up a quantitative design to measure the critters not only in the most contaminated areas, but also in the clean areas. In the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, you have everything from pristine, completely uncontaminated areas to really highly-contaminated areas. It’s kind of a quiltwork … a mosaic.

So this provides the ability to do rigorous comparative analyses of critters that are in the same environment, except for the radiation.

[Q] So you utilized good controls in terms of ruling out other health-damaging and mortality factors, because in this “quiltwork” ecology you had higher or lower levels of radiation … but otherwise the conditions were similar?

[Mousseau] Exactly, combined with the fact that – everywhere we went – we also measured all of the other environmental factors that would likely play some role in the abundance and distribution of organisms … such as the type of soil, whether it was forest or grass, the water, as well as the ambient conditions at the time we collected the data.

And we did a control for human habitation sites as well, in Belarus.

[Q] What kinds of effects did you test for?

[Mousseau] We’ve tested for mutation rates, estimates of genetic damage, estimates of sperm damage, sperm swimming [i.e. how mobile the sperm are], fertility rates in both females and males, longevity, age distribution of the birds in these different areas, species diversity, etc.

[Q] And what did you find?

[Mousseau] The diversity of birds is about half of what it should be in the most contaminated areas. The total numbers of birds is only about a third of what it should be in the most contaminated areas.

In 2006, I decided to collect fruit flies across the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and I couldn’t find very many.

And then I realized, there wasn’t any rotting fruit on the ground. And considering that every farmer, every landowner would put up fruit trees in that part of the world, you look at the fruit trees and realize there’s hardly any fruit on them.

And of course, that’s why there weren’t many fruit flies.

And then it dawned on us, where are the pollinators? And that point, we realized there aren’t many bees and butterflies.

So we started counting the bees, the butterflies, the dragonflies, the spiders, and the grasshoppers.

And that’s when we realized that all of the groups we looked at showed significantly lower numbers in the most-contaminated areas.

It look us a little longer to figure out a way to study mammals. We decided we can count many of the mammals by looking at footprints in the snow. The ecologists in Canada and Northern Europe have been doing this for centuries. There’s even a book published [a field guide] for identifying animals by their footprints in the snow.

We found – for most of the mammals – significant declines in numbers in the most contaminated areas. The one exception were the wolves, which showed no difference, probably because they have huge ranges which span across the high and low areas of contamination.

[We'll cut away from the interview to explain what Mousseau found, using information and slides from his published studies. The copyright to all images are owned by Dr. Mousseau.]

Indeed, Mousseau found – in studies of plants, insects and mammals – that:

Most organisms studied show significantly increased rates of genetic damage in direct proportion to the level of exposure to radioactive contaminants

Many organisms show increased rates of deformities and developmental abnormalities in direct proportion to contamination levels

Many organisms show reduced fertility rates

Many organisms show reduced life spans

Many organisms show reduced population sizes

Biodiversity is significantly decreased many species locally extinct

Mutations are passed from one generation to the next, and show signs of accumulating over time

Mutations are migrating out of affected areas into populations that are not exposed (i.e. population bystander effects)

THREE YEARS AFTER: Majority of Japan’s nuclear reactors face bleak future THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 12 Mar 13 Due to stricter government safety regulations, 30 of Japan’s idled 48 nuclear reactors have no immediate prospects of restarting operations, at least in the near future, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey of utilities.Thirteen of those, mainly due to their age, are having particular difficulty in complying with the new standards, according to the survey, and are likely to be decommissioned……..

The new restrictions ban electric power companies from locating reactor facilities directly on top of active fault lines. The state also revised the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors to limit, in principle, the operational life of reactors to 40 years.

“No matter how much money and time we spend, it would be impossible (for some reactors to clear certain hurdles),” said an official with an electric power company, referring to the two requirements.

....

The two restrictions are the main obstacles the utilities face in their efforts to restart idle reactors. The 13 likely to be decommissioned are the Tokai No. 2 plant in Ibaraki Prefecture; the three reactors at the Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture; the two reactors each at the Oi, Takahama and Tsuruga plants, all in Fukui Prefecture; the No. 1 reactor at the Shimane plant; the No. 1 reactor at the Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture; and the No. 1 reactor of the Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture.

Of these reactors, the Tsuruga plant’s No. 1 reactor and the Mihama plant’s No. 1 and No. 2 reactors have exceeded the 40-year limit.

The Shimane plant’s No. 1 reactor will mark its 40th anniversary of operation at the end of this month, while the Takahama plant’s No. 1 reactor will pass the four decade mark in November. Furthermore, an investigation by the Nuclear Regulation Authority has concluded that there is an active fault line beneath the Tsuruga plant’s No. 2 reactor building. A slip of an active fault directly under a reactor is highly likely to lead to its destruction.

[snip]

Discovery of Fukushima radioactivity raises concerns for local marine life, and the effect it may have on humans

Chum salmon, such as these, spawned out next to Kilby Provincial Park on the Harrison River, are being tested for evidence of radiation from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan.

Photograph by: John Preissl , Sumbitted

A radioactive metal from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in Japan has been discovered in the Fraser Valley, causing researchers to raise the alarm about the long-term impact of radiation on B.C.’s west coast.

Examination of a soil sample from Kilby Provincial Park, near Agassiz, has for the first time in this province found Cesium 134, further evidence of Fukushima radioactivity being transported to Canada by air and water.

“That was a surprise,” said Juan Jose Alava, an adjunct professor in the school of resource and environmental management at Simon Fraser University, in an interview on Tuesday. “It means there are still emissions ... and trans-Pacific air pollution. It’s a concern to us. This is an international issue.”

Cesium 134 has a half-life of two years, meaning its radioactivity is reduced by half during that time. Its presence in the environment is an indication of continuing contamination from Fukushima.

A more persistent danger to people and marine life is radioactive Cesium 137, which has a half-life of 30 years, and bioaccumulates in the food chain.